A long time ago while trying to find a direction for my image making, I was guided to work with patterns. Back then I used tracing paper to develop and copy a preliminary sketch. And then I copied the sketch, the "motif," over and over into a new image. If something nice happened, I transferred the tracing onto illustration board and rendered the resulting image, the pattern. It was very tedious and risky, as it could take weeks to render one of those images.

I didn't see too much in it at the time. But this work was what I instructed to do. Kind of like the outside world where you are told what to do; but in fact, this was academia. I was jumping through hoops. But then somehow along the way, something happened. An accident? An illusion? I don't even know how it happened but there it was. At times the patterns seemed to lead to a kind of magic.

Since that time, like most people my age, I've got some history behind me. I taught for a while, became a commercial artist and photographer, wrote technical publications, did a little graphic design work, etc. Times changed, technologies changed, then the computer came. And ultimately I came full circle, as they say. That is, I saw a way to return to the fine arts. No longer any hoops. No one telling me what to do. Doing my own thing - in a way.

I thought, why not go back to working with patterns, but now with the computer and using photography as the base. But would I find that magic again?

I've been at it for just a few years now, so I'm still very new at this. But I'm finding it very interesting, with plenty of room to grow and explore. And sometimes I really do see things, which drives me on to see more. But do I see magic? That something that becomes more than the sum of its parts? That surprise, or peaceful feeling, or shock, or whatever, that makes you happy or glad that you saw it? Sometimes. But I don't always see what others do. And that fact is very interesting
to me too.

So, take a look. Explore a little. Maybe you'll see something that resonates for you. Maybe you'll find a little bit of
Magic.